


Task Force X: The Suicide Squad

by madealine



Category: Batman - All Media Types
Genre: F/M, Not the movie Suicide Squad though, Suicide Squad
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-01
Updated: 2018-06-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 18:56:14
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14816997
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/madealine/pseuds/madealine
Summary: When the world is under threat from enemies bigger than heroes, a group of villains just as terrible as the terror attacking are forced to fight alongside each other to protect the Earth they want to destroy.





	1. Chapter 1

Harley Quinn was not where she remembered being a few hours ago.

Of course, she didn’t have the best memory, but she was almost positive that she had not fallen asleep chained to a wall in a creepy torture room. In fact, she was absolutely sure that she had cried herself to sleep in Arkham because her Puddin’ had escaped without her. She remembered Pamela specifically yelling at her to shut the hell up because she was disturbing her plants. So then, why was she here?

Harley stretched her neck upwards and saw a camera in the corner of the room. She was being watched. Her wrists hurt, badly, but she ignored them. She was cold and shaking, her prison uniform damp. Whoever had taken her captive didn’t bother to change her clothes. Her pigtails were still in tact, if not a little tangled. A few loose strands of hair had fallen in her face, stinging a foreign cut on her forehead. She looked around and saw a table with cuffs attached to it, a chair with strange wires poking out of it, a cart with knives and other tools spread across it, and many more pairs of chains and cuffs on the walls, or better, wall. The room she was in was circular and the ceiling stretched up into the air past her line of sight. She looked to the camera.

“Uh, hey, I don’t know who you think you are, but-“ A voice cut her off.

“Ms. Quinzel. You’re finally awake. I’m glad. I personally did not oversee your transfer. If I did, well, you wouldn’t have any bruises.”

“Uh... thanks?” The voice stayed silent, letting her speak. “So, um, where the hell am I? And who the hell are you?”

“I’m sorry, our location is classified, but I can tell you this; my name is Amanda Waller, and you are here for a very important reason. You are going to help save the world.” Harley blinked. That wasn’t what she expected.

“Hmm. I don’t think you know me that well, Amy.”

“It’s Captain Waller. I know you better than you think, Harleen. I know you’re twenty-nine years old, turning thirty in a few weeks, and that terrifies you. I know that you are madly in love with known criminal The Joker, and I know your best friend is Pamela Isley. I know you’d do anything to save them. I also know that right now they both have bombs implanted in the back of their necks, similar to the one my men implanted in yours just a few hours ago, and if you don’t comply, I’ll press this tiny red button here on my desk and have them killed. If you’d like, I can let you watch.” She swallowed.

“Y-you’re bluffin’.”

“Maybe I am. Try me.” Just then, she heard a door swing open, the sound of clicking heels following it. “I doubt you’d let your lover and the only true friend you’ve ever had die because of your pride,” a short woman said, her dark eyes glistening with humor. 

“I’m not gonna be a part of whatever game your playin’ at, Captain Waller.” The darker woman sighed.

“Fine. Boys, if you’d please convince Ms. Quinzel to stay with us a little while longer, I would greatly appreciate it.” The men nodded and walked over to the tool cart. One picked up a knife, the other a screwdriver. The third reached for a bat.

“What’re you gonna do to me?”

“Oh, I’m not going to do anything to you, Quinn, but I can’t say the same for them.” Suddenly, Harley felt the bat crash against her rib cage, not hard enough to break bone, but it hurt like hell. She barely even flinched. Again and again, the bat hit different parts of her body, never quite breaking her bones, and again and again she stayed still, smiling at Waller and the other men standing by. Eventually, Waller huffed.

“Try a different tactic.” The second man walked over, carrying a knife. He slid it down her cheek and she stuck her tongue out at him, daring him to cut a smile into her face. He lowered his hand and moved to her stomach, carving line after line with a crude passion. Harley’s eyes watered, but she did not falter or cry out, even as he cut dangerously close to the tendons in her leg, ankle, wrist. When his knife was bloody, he wiped it on her shirt, when it became dull he sharpened it on the chains holding her up, and when she smiled, he drew a diamond on her scalp with his blade. Waller stopped him.

“Try again.” The last man stepped closer, screwdriver in hand. He grasped her chin.

“Open up, Quinn,” he growled. “Show me that smile.” She obliged. What he did next was too horrifying for her to remember, but when she came to, three of her teeth were gone and someone was screaming.

“Had enough yet, Ms. Quinzel?” So the screaming had been coming from her own mouth, the traitor. She giggled, and it stung.

“Nuh-uh.” Waller scowled.

“Aren’t you scared for your friends?” One of the men said. “Scared of what we’ll do to you?”

“Oh please mister,” Harley’s speech was slurred as blood ran down her chin. “You think yer scary? Heh, that’s cute. Well, I gotta tell ya, I’ve seen scary,” she laughed, “and trust me, you ain’t got his smile.” She broke into a peel of giggles, her blood-stained teeth showing through her swollen lips. Amanda Waller scowled.

“Okay, Quinn. I see how you want to play. Well, if you don’t co-operate, I will not hesitate to blast your head off your shoulders, along with The Joker’s. Do you understand?”

“No. No, I don’t. You couldn’t have put a bomb in my Puddin’s neck. He’s too smart.”

“Yes, that’s why it was so difficult. But do you really think he would leave Arkham without you, after all these years?” Harley was silent. He had been more distant lately, but he hadn’t even raised a hand to her in weeks! He wouldn’t have left her flat, not without telling her. And besides, there was hardly any commotion when he left, just faint laughing...

“What did you do to him?”

“Nothing, really. Just knocked him out, implanted the bomb, then put him back in his cell after we had taken you. We did the same with Isley. They’re safe, for now. Their future depends on you.” Waller motioned for the others to put down their weapons. “So, are you willing to play nice? For their sake?” Harley swallowed. 

Well, she thought, what’s the worst that could happen?

“Yeah, sure. I’ll help, so don’t go killing ‘em anytime soon.”

“Good.” Waller motioned for the others to leave. “I do hope you get along with your team. I would hate to see innocent people die because of your stubbornness.”

Before Harley could ask what she meant by “team,” Waller was gone and the men were back and strapping her into a wheelchair. 

“Say goodnight, Gracie,” the man with the bat said, and he shoved a needle into her arm.

As the world started going black around the edges, Harley mumbled, “Goodnight, Gracie,” and slumped into the wheelchair, unconscious.


	2. The Team

_Ugh, again?_ Harley thought to herself. Just how many times had she passed out on this little trip? She was now in a room much different than the other, with white tiled walls and floors, and a large door on one side. For the first time, she was surrounded by other people.

She didn’t recognize many of them. There was a woman with blue-tinted skin making frost appear on the ground, a man with what looked like a boomerang, a second man covered in tattoos, what looked to be a cheetah, and a man standing in the corner, arms crossed in frustration. She did recognize one person, though.

”Croc! Oh, it’s so good to see ya! What’re ya doing here?” The monstrous form sighed.

”I. Don’t. Know.”

”Yeah, neither do I.”

The blue woman spoke up. “How do you two know each other?”

”Arkham,” they replied in unison.

”Oh god,” the boomerang guy said. “You’re one of those.”

”One of what?”

He looked around at the others, who shook their heads. ”Nothing.”

Suddenly, the door opened and Amanda Waller walked in, the men from before following close behind.

”I see you have introduced yourselves to your fellow inmates. As you all know, I am Amanda Waller, but you will call me Captain Waller. Now, there are a few things I must tell you. One: you are all criminals. Here at Belle Reve Penitentiary you are serving a sentence for your crimes. Two: this is not a game. You can’t just walk out of here and expect to be set free. Some of you may already know that you have microchip bombs implanted in the back of your necks, and if you even look at me in a way I don’t like, or speak to me in a disrespectful tone, I will not hesitate to blow your heads off your shoulders. Three: if you do by some miracle escape, you better watch your back, because I will be coming to find you, and if I can’t, I’ll send the Batman. And four: it’s not just your lives that are on the line. All the citizens of Gotham, Metropolis, Central City, Coast City, hell, the citizens of the whole damn world! Their lives are resting on your shoulders. Do not let them down. Do not let me down, either, or you won’t get to live to see another day. Do you understand?”

The men and women murmured their agreements, but the man in the corner shook his head.

”What?”

”Why us? Why choose us? Like you said, we’re criminals, bad guys, we aren’t supposed to help people. So why do you think that we’ll be able to?”

”I need people who have no limits. Morals are a hinderance when it comes to these enemies. I need people who don’t care whether the person their fighting lives or dies, and I need people who I know will get the job done, no matter what. And that, sweetie,” she spat out the word like it left a bad taste in her mouth, “is why I _know_ that you’ll be able to. Any more questions?”

They stayed quiet.

”Good. You are all now the first official members of Task Force X. Follow me.”

They all slowly rose, looking from Waller to the other confused members of the new Task Force X. They began whispering amongst each other, hoping to find out more.

”Hey,” Harley whispered. “What’re all of yer names?”

The blue woman spoke up. “Killer Frost. What about you?”

”Harley Quinn!”

”I’m Captain Boomerang, but you can call me Digger, love,” the man with the boomerang said.

The tattooed man said, “El Diablo,” and then stayed silent.

”What about you, kitty?”

”It’s Cheetah,” she growled. “Don’t call me kitty.”

”Yeesh. Fine,” Harley mumbled. The other man had not left the corner. “Uh, mister tall, dark, and brooding, you’d better follow her. She’ll blow yer brains out if ya don’t!”

”Better than being a slave.”

Harley giggled. ”True!”

He looked at her and his eyes widened. “Your mouth is bleeding.”

”Hmm? Oh, yeah. You ain’t looking too good yourself.” He had an angry bruise above his eyebrow, a cut down his lip, and as he walked towards her, she noticed he was limping. “So, who are ya, anyway?”

”Deadshot. How about you?”

”Harley Quinn. Pleased ta meetcha!”

”You’re the Joker’s chick, right?”

”Uh-uh! I ain’t with that creep no more! He’s a jerk!”

”Uh-huh. Well, we should probably get going.”

”Yeah. Don’t wanna die on our first day!” She giggled and more blood fell out of her mouth. “Ugh, I really need to do something about this.”

”Here.” He handed her a handkerchief. “Just- just try not to get too much blood anywhere.”

”Thanks, Floyd.” 

He paused and shook his head. They were walking down a corridor a few feet behind everyone else.

”How do you know my name?”

”Read your file at Arkham. I used to be a doctor there, before I met Mistah J.”

”I’ve only been to Arkham once, for a day, before they transferred me to Blackgate.”

”Yeah, they keep files on everyone there, even if they’ve only ever been there for an hour.” She traced her hand along the wall. “They’re pretty meticulous with their note-keeping.”

”I can tell.”

”Quinn, Lawton!” Waller yelled. “Keep up!” They picked up their pace and were soon in line with everyone else. “Here we are. Enjoy your stay,” Waller said with a smirk. She handed a list to a guard and walked away.

The next room was more of a hallway with multiple cells and a giant cage in the middle. _Like Arkham,_ Harley thought. The cage brought back terrifying memories of “therapy” at Arkham. She shivered.

”George Harkness,” a guard yelled. “Cell 16-A!” Captain Boomerang was escorted to the second cell on their left.

“Waylon Jones, cell 17-A!” Killer Croc was taken away.

”Floyd Lawton, cell 18-A!” Deadshot was dragged to his new cell.

“Barbara Minerva, cell 15-B!” The men shoved Cheetah into the first cell on their right.

”Harleen Quinzel, cell 16-B!” Harley was dragged into the second cell on the right, the door locked behind her. She put her face next to the bars in her door.

”Chato Santana, cell 17-B!” El Diablo was put into the cell next to her own. Killer Frost was standing alone.

”Caitlyn Snow, cell 18-B!” She was dragged off past Harley’s cell.

”Do not try to escape, or you will be executed!” The guard yelled for his comrades to follow him, and soon they were left alone. No one spoke.

Harley’s cell was dark with one small window letting in light. It was covered with what she assumed was bulletproof glass, and it was too small to escape out of, so she didn’t bother trying. Her door was heavy, with bars near the top and a little latch that could cover them if she was being too loud. There was a slot at the bottom for food. A cot was in the far left corner of the room with a blanket akin to a large rag. Other than that, her room was empty.

Many things bothered Harley about her situation, but as the others slowly began to talk, she could only think of one thing.

The first cell to the left was still empty.


End file.
